William Cutting
William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting was an American gangster who was the leader of the famous Natives gang, and was the most powerful gangster in Manhattan from 1846 to 1863. He had political connections and was feared by the people, who treated him with respect. He was killed in 1893 by the Dead Rabbits leader Amsterdam Vallon. Biography Cutting was born in 1814 to a soldier who served in the War of 1812 and was killed, and a townswoman. He was born of peasant stock, but when the Irish immigration began, he gained power as the leader of the Natives gang, American men who were racist against Irish and African-Americans. Cutting purchased police support, and was able to do whatever he wanted to do in public. He spent time with Parisian whores and other prostitutes, and everyone paid tribute to him, out of fear; if they messed with him, he would have their head impaled on a pike. Cutting won over the territory of the Five Points on February 16, 1846 in the Battle of the Five Points, where he slew Priest Vallon, leader of the immigrant Dead Rabbits gang, with his sword in a large medieval-style battle. The Dead Rabbits fought well, but their leader was killed, and their name was outlawed. The underworld changed after the downfall of Vallon's gang as new gangs arrived: the Daybreak Boys and Swamp Angels looted ships; the Frog Hollows and Shanghai Sailors took over the Bloody Angle; the Shirt Tails became idlers and dandies rather than a gang like they used to be, hanging around Murderers' Alley; the Plug Uglies from deep in Ireland arrived, with languages different from other Irish-Americans, fighting the NYPD; the scurvy Night Walkers of Ragpicker's Row arrived, allying with the Plug Uglies; the Slaughter Housers and Broadway Twisters were a fine bunch of bingo-boys; the Forty Thieves were taken over by Bendrick the Cockroach and his Red-Eyed Buggers; and the True Blue Americans came, calling themselves a gang, but all they did was insult England. Cutting celebrated his victory over the Dead Rabbits every year, but he respected Priest Vallon, as he was his only respectable opponent. Cutting's gang were beaten to a robbery of a ship by the Daybreak Boys in September 1862, failing his attempted heist. One of the men in his crew was Amsterdam Vallon, son of Priest, but Cutting was not aware of his identity. Cutting developed an anti-Union sentiment, believing that segregation was correct and slavery should not be abolished. At a showing of Uncle Tom's Cabin in a theatre, he yelled "Down with the Union!" before being shot by an unidentified assassin, but Vallon killed the assassin and saved Cutting's life. Cutting was treated for his wounds, but retired to a brothel for the meantime, spending time with various prostitutes in bed. He recovered, but at the time of his recovery, he had found out Amsterdam's identity, and nearly killed him at a party, stabbing him and beating him, but letting him live so he could live "like one of Barnum's wonders". Vallon was nursed back to health by Cutting's unofficially-adopted daughter Jenny Everdeane, who fell in love with Amsterdam. Vallon raised an army of recently-arrived Irish immigrants, reforming the Dead Rabbits, and he challenged Cutting to a duel, as the New York Draft Riots broke out in July 1863. During the chaos, where mobs of people razed buildings down, killed black men, and cut telegram wires, naval ships bombarded Paradise Square in the Five Points, where the fight took place. The two gangs, Natives and Dead Rabbits, fought under fire from the ships and from Union soldiers, and Cutting was mortally wounded by shrapnel during the chaos. He stated that he could die a true American, but instead, Vallon stabbed him with a knife, getting revenge. The bodies of Bill the Butcher and Priest Vallon were buried in Brooklyn, their tombstones rotting away by 2002. Category:Natives Category:Americans Category:Gangsters Category:Killed